The UConn Huskies ran through San Diego State 76-59 in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night in Houston to complete one of the most dominant runs in March Madness history.
The Huskies, who at one point reached as high as No. 2 in the polls during the season, entered this year’s tournament as a four-seed. They played like an undefeated 1-seed as soon as play began.
Their 24-point victory over Iona in the first round was just a prelude of what was to come.
The Huskies beat every team they faced by double-digits, with their 13-point win over Miami in the Final Four being their closest margin. They rolled three teams by over 20 points, including a 28-point win over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.
The 2023 UConn Huskies were one of the most dominant men's NCAA Tournament teams ever.
🏀 24-point win over Iona
🏀 15-point win over St. Mary's
🏀 23-point win over Arkansas
🏀 28-point win over Gonzaga
🏀 13-point win over Miami
💍 17-point win over San Diego St. pic.twitter.com/dtMKiZVVG9— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 4, 2023
The Huskies and Aztecs played evenly eight minutes of the game on Monday before UConn began to pull away. They held San Diego State without a field goal for around 11 minutes of game time in the first half. They went up by as much as 16 points in the first half before taking a 36-24 lead into halftime.
In the second half, San Diego State got the game to within six points at 56-50 with just over seven minutes left before UConn pulled away for their 17-point win.
Junior Adama Sanogo finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Jordan Hawkins added 16 points, and Tristen Newton scored 19 points with 10 rebounds in the win.
Looking back, Dan Hurley was right when he warned teams they had to get their wins in against UConn in 2020, because his Huskies turned into a machine.
UConn now has won five national championships, putting them behind only UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6). Incredibly, all five of their championships have come since 1999.
